to become acquainted with the real history and characteristics of the human race.

I will not ask you to go all lengths with me, in opposition to the whole practical drama-which I sincerely believe to be a curse upon ev. ery community where it is tolerated; for I know, by my own experience, how difficult it is to get over early associations, and discard the prejudices, or idols of the senses or imagination, to which such associations give birth; but still I do not despair of seeing the day, when there will not be a shade of difference in opinion between you and myself on that subject.

For my own part, I believe, that from the day when the low comedian, and satirical scribler, Aristophanes, set the Athenian multitude in a roar, by his broad grins,' levelled at the real or supposed eccentricities or delinquencies of Socrates, to this very hour, the drama, in its practical or public exhibitions, has done infinitely more harm than good; has in fact done nothing but mischief, whether morally, politically, or religiously considered. I will not say, that a well written tragedy or comedy, in which the laws of truth and decorum are suffi ciently observed, may not be studied in the closet to advantage; but certain I am, that even such a composition cannot be exhibited on the stage, with advantage either to the public or private good.

I am far from feeling disposed to injure individuals in their legitimate private or public professions or callings. I have esteemed, and still do esteem, certain dramatic performers, though I regret that they feel themselves called upon to follow their profession. But still I am perfectly convinced, that if the genius and tact, or acquirements, of the whole race of Garricks, Holmans, Kembles, Cooks and Keans, had been devoted to the bar or the bench, the church or the state, or to medical science, or mercantile, or mechanical, or agricultural industry and enterprise, they themselves would have been the happier, and mankind the wiser, or the better off in many respects; whereas in most cases their lives have been miserable in relation to themselves, and useless entirely to the world; and not merely useless, but pernicious: For their public exhibitions have been the means of leading thousands and tens of thousands of the best and brightest youths of Europe and America, to untimely graves, if not 'down to the gates of hell !' OLIVER OLDSCHOOL.

In the same paper, of the 3d of June, 1837, the following article appeared in answer to the preceding :

MR. EDITOR

-:

For the Albany Daily Advertiser.

I have just finished a perusal of the communication of Mr. 'Oldschool,' and as you have kindly avowed your willingness to

give the subject a 'fair discussion,' perhaps the few subjoined remarks in relation to it, may find a place in your paper.

I am not yet an old man,' and the benefits derived from a long life have not yet fallen to my lot. But although destitute of that age and experience which has bestowed on him better capabilities of judging, and of a twenty or thirty years steady attendance at Theatres which has afforded him better means; I still beg leave to express my dissent to several of his conclusions, although when age has placed its withering stamp upon my brow, 'mature reflection' or 'bitter experience' may induce me, like him, to retract it.

The distress and suffering which now pervades every section of country, from Maine to Florida, and every grade of society from the highest to the lowest, seems continually forcing itself up before the mental vision of Mr. Oldschool, and the greatest stress is laid upon it as inconsistent with any exhibition of mirth or merriment. In fact, to such a degree does he harp upon it, and so unrelenting an enmity does he display to any thing that would have a tendency to cheer the spirits or relax the mind, that did not his own assertion to the contrary stare us full in the face, one would suppose he belonged to that crabbed class of mortals who consider merriment a crime and levity an abomination. But I am willing to admit that the present distress is as widespread and disastrous in its effects as any reasonable man claims it to be, and I admit it the more readily as its very existence furnishes me with a strong reason in favor of the Drama. The difficulties under which we are at present struggling, have an injurious effect upon the minds of men. The most careless observer must be struck with the number of persons whom he hourly comes in contact with, whose haggard look and careworn brow serve as signs of the mental excitement reigning within. Their hurried step and down cast look show but too plainly that despondency is weighing down their spirits and destroying their energies. Despair is depicted in their countenances, and with no chance of escape or hope of relief before them, they either settle down in a stupid indifference, or become the victims of a pernicious mental excitement.

To persons in this situation, the Theatre becomes a resort in the highest degree beneficial. It is to them an oasis in the desert. It soothes the perturbed mind and calms the troubled spirit. It enlivens and cheers the victim of despondency, and with renovated hopes and energies, he is prepared to advance on the road of life. He forgets the sufferings, real or imaginary, under which he labored, and is relieved of a weight which depressed his spirits and cramped his energies. And the man, be it Yankee Hill or any other of his fraternity, who by contributing to such results, sheds a ray of light amid the surrounding blackness of darkness, is 'a public benefactor' in the fullest sense of the term.

Again, is not the drama when well conducted, an auxiliary in the inculcation of moral and virtuous precepts, and an auxiliaay the more va

luable, since by blending the agreeable with the instructive, and presen→ ting moral lessons in a more attractive style, it diffuses its benefits among a larger number? Are not characters taken from every day life exhibited in their true aspect? Is not virtue presented in all its loveliness and vice in all its deformity? And as

do not true check it?

Vice is a monster of so hideous mien
That to be hated, needs but to be seen,
representations of it on the stage serve to repress and
NIMROD.

In reply to Nimrod, I wrote the following article, and sent it to the editor of the Daily Advertiser; but owing to a press of matter at the time, and perhaps because the editor had reasons satisfactory to his own mind, for wishing to close his columns on the subject, it was returned to me with a polite apology, which left me no reason to complain of its non-appear

ance:

MR. BROOKS,

For the Albany Daily Advertiser.

It is not my intention, generally speaking, to reply to any one who may attempt to criticise or refute any article which you may do me the favor to publish : But your correspondent' NIMROD,' in your paper of this morning, seems to think the Theatre the only cure for that despondency or despair, by which the minds of many are now burthened, or diseased, in consequence of the pressure of the times; and so to relieve them from this pecuniary pressure, he invites them to spend their money in tickets of admission to that Temple of Momus and Melpomene. It might, perhaps, in heathen antiquity, have been the only spring or fountain, which could minister to a mind diseased,' or 'pluck from the memory a rooted sorrow ;' although, if we mistake not, there were even then some few sages, who found purer fountains at which to soothe their sorrow in the hour of affliction. But permit me, if you please, sir, to suggest to Nimrod, that there is in the library of every christian, a book, which points out a far different, and I believe a much more effectual remedy for all disorders of the mind or heart, no matter from what source they flow, than any relic of heathenism can afford, whether it be the ludicrous walk of the sock, or the bloody arena of the gladiatorial combat. If NIMROD, and those whose haggard looks and care-worn brow,' he so

vividly describes, will be good enough to open that precious, but too much neglected volume, they may read the following, among many other similar passages.

'It is good for me that I have been afflicted, that I might learn thy statutes, O Lord!' Ps. cxix, &c.

Though I walk in the midst of trouble, thou shalt revive me; thou shalt stretch forth thine hand against the wrath of mine enemies; and thy right hand shall save me.' Ps. cxxxviii. 7.

'Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.'

I cheerfully leave every rational reader to determine, which is the best opiate or remedy for mental or heart-felt anguish; the philosophy of the book I have quoted, or the clamorous and heedless mirth--' the long, loud laugh, that speaks the vacant mind,'—and which is so often heard in the Theatre, till the very walls are made to shake with it. If I were to undertake to answer the questions of Nimrod, in his last paragraph, I should not only negative the whole; but should conclusively prove, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that there is not one solitary virtue, one solitary spark of true wisdom, sound philosophy, or rational entertainment in any theatrical exhibition whatsoever, beyond what may be far more easily understood, as well as better relished, in the closet. I am indeed, inclined to go further, and to say, that sound science, sound morals, and pure religion, imperatively demand the total extinction of all public dramatic performances; though I am not disposed to say the same of the Closet Drama, by which I mean the study of perhaps half a dozen-a dozen at the farthest-of dramatic authors, both ancient and modern: For of the whole drama, so far as it has been published, from the first to the last, there is not more than one production out of twenty, taking the whole range of tragedy and comedy, that a rational being, and much less a christian believer, ought to read at all, unless he wishes, which no rational being can do, to waste nineteen-twentieths of the time which it would require to read the whole: And as to Mr. Nimrod's quotation of Mr. Pope's flippant philosophy-for such it is-written perhaps without reflection, and too often, if not always, adopted in the same heedless manner, that

"Vice is a monster of such frightful mien,

As to be hated needs but to be seen."

It is, unfortunately for Mr. Nimrod, a two edged sword of morality, being very liable to cut both ways, according to circumstauces. It is clear that Mr. Pope wrote without reflection, and perhaps forgetful of his own experience, or he might have perceived that a mind or heart naturally vicious, too often receives a new impulse towards vice from every vicious scene; and sometimes, I grant, a mind disposed to virtue may have its good disposition strengthened by the sight of vice; but this is a dangerous experiment to make upon young minds, ignorant of the world, and of what constitutes the true dignity and happiness of man s

E

And I believe it will not be denied, that there is vice enough always to be seen at every theatrical exhibition, to lead at least a score of weakminded or inexperienced young men and boys into the broad road to ruin.

I will barely add, that Nimrod is rather an unfortunate signature for your correspondent on this occasion, as he is supposed by some of the ablest biblical commentators, to be the same personage, who, for his vices, was doomed, by an offended Deity, to eat grass with the beasts of the field, 'till his hairs,' says the sacred text, were grown like Eagle's feathers, and his nails like bird's claws'—(Dan. iv. 43)—or, in other words, till he, who once stood before the Lord as a mighty hunter' of beasts, became at last a beast himself as a just punishment for his vices. OLIVER OLDSCHOOL.

Albany, June 3, 1837.

I will now proceed to answer Nimrod more explicitly, since the pressure of matter in a daily newspaper, where the numerous advertisements so often exclude even the Muses from their wonted privilege, has prevented me from being heard through that medium,

Nimrod says, that "the distress and suffering," &c. "which now pervades," &c. seems continually forcing itself up before the mental vision of Mr. Oldschool." I never knew before that I had a chemical vision which could so readily amalgamate two things into one; witness, "distress and suffering forcing itself up." Well done, Mr. Nimrod, if this does not prove that you have discovered the philosopher's stone, it proves that if you have no more grace than grammar, your condition is not to be envied; but let that pass; for greater men than yourself have been at times in the predicament of having as little grammar as grace.